28-06-2025
Regression or progression for Commanders QB Jayden Daniels in 2025?
This week, there was more talk about Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels potentially experiencing an NFL sophomore slump.
But in this case, the two hosts weren't buying the talk of Daniels falling into the dreaded sophomore slump. Nope, Robert Mays and Derrick Klassen on their "The Athletic Football Show" podcast actually held firmly that they don't see Daniels falling off drastically.
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For example, they discussed how NFL teams will adjust their strategies this year and employ different blitzes against Daniels. Thus, yes, a quarterback's performance against the blitz can vary from year to year. When suggesting that Daniels could fall back slightly against the blitz, a reference came to how, when being blitzed late in a game, he threw a deep touchdown. That no doubt was referring to the MNF win, when Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin down the right sideline, in the end zone, ensuring the Commanders' road win in Cincinnati over the Bengals.
It was admitted that though Daniels might not maintain the rate to make a large gain against the blitz, the two ended up agreeing that they actually can easily see Daniels making enough of the plays he needs to make against blitzes in 2025.
Comical is not the accurate description when listening, however, it was evident that both hosts agreed that when watching the film of the 2024 games, Daniels showed more than a few times that under duress, he already had an understanding of where to go with the football against certain blitzes.
No, Daniels was not in the top ten quarterbacks in yards passing, but that's okay; he wasn't in the top ten in passing attempts either.
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Maintaining a level of objectivity, Daniels did have a weakness last season of taking sacks. Being sacked 47 times, he was sacked the sixth most by an NFL quarterback in 2024. How much of that was the line? How much of that was Daniels?
It's not a simplistic answer, as there were times last year when the line was inadequate; there were also instances where Daniels is clearly holding the ball and ends up being sacked. One side note, I recall numerous times when Daniels didn't throw the ball away and instead ran, only to get sacked for a loss of only a yard or two.
Look for Daniels to be more consciously aware in this second NFL to taking sacks vs throwing away the ball. Who knows, having the same offensive coordinator (Kliff Kingsbury), might the learned familiarity with the same offense, result in Daniels not experiencing a slump at all?
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Will Jayden Daniels experience a 'sophomore slump' in 2025?
